Proper motive, cleaving to God and Galatians 5:2-4

Mainline Judaism never advocated Torah observance in order to earn salvation.

Simeon the Righteous was the last of the “Great Assembly”  and assumed the position of High Priest after Ezra. The successor of Simeon was Antigones of Soko. The Mishnah indicates that Antigones taught that the Torah should be obeyed without an agenda to earn a reward or wage, but simply for the sake of the fear of God:

“Antigones of Soko received [Torah] from Simeon the Righteous. He used to say, ‘Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of wages, but be like servants who serve their master with no thought of a wage – and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.’ ” – Mishnah, Avot 1:3

The Rabbi Ben Azai (Mishnaic Sage) states that the reward for obeying a commandment is the commandment itself as well as the conditioned habit of obedience. If one is in the practice of obeying the Torah, this will lead the individual away from sin.

“Ben Azai says: Run to do an easy commandment as to a difficult one, and flee from sin; since a commandment leads to another commandment, and a sin leads to another sin; since the reward for a commandment is another commandment, and the reward for a sin is another sin.” – Mishnah, Avot 4:2

We see that even during the time of the writing of the Talmud (500 AD) Rabbinic Judaism still taught against Torah keeping for motives other than the love of God and the desire to obey him:

“‘Happy is the one…That delighteth greatly in His commandments’, was explained by R. Eleazar thus: ‘it is a desire for the commandments, BUT NOT IN THE REWARD FOR KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS. This is just what we have learnt. ‘He used to say, Be not like servants who serve the master on the condition of receiving a reward; but be like servants who serve the master without the condition of receiving a reward.’ “But whose desire is in the law of the Lord. – Talmud, Abodah Zarah 19A

Religious motive became such an issue, that the term “Lishmah” developed, translated as: “for its purpose,”  implying that one should not complicate the matter by assigning any other motive. A cautionary tale was developed as a frightful warning against delving into the sacred Torah with impure Lishmah. A great sage named Doeg haEdomi fell into apostasy:

“He was the head of the Sanhedrin in the generation of Shaul and Shmuel, yet he is counted among those who have no share in the world to come. Why did the Torah that he studied not protect him? Because he studied “sheloh lishmah” – with improper motivation!” – Chesbon HaNefesh, page 13, Forward.

Compare this with Paul’s dire warning to the Galatians:

“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all…You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” – Galatians 5:2,4

A superficial reading of this scripture would seem to suggest that the terrible error that the Galatians were committing was the supposed sin of seeking circumcision. Surely this could not be the case since Paul circumcised Timothy in Acts 16.  Something more complicated was clearly at work, unless we are to concede that Paul deliberately  compromised Timothy’s salvation In Acts 16.

The Jewish concept of lishmah immediately reconciles the apparent contradiction. Timothy was circumcised in order to avoid offending the Jews they were preparing to witness to. Timothy had a Jewish mother, and according to Jewish law this made him Jewish by birth. Paul knew that the Jewish community would never invite instruction from an uncircumcised Jew. In an effort to remove the possible offense, Timothy was circumcised. Therefore the “lishmah” behind the circumcision was pure and conducted in order to advance the gospel. However, the book of Galatians mounts a condemning case against the congregation in Galatia. The Galatians not only had the wrong lishmah, they were shamelessly promoting conversion and Torah observance for the absolute worst lishmah possible: in order to earn salvation. The Galatians were falling for the same error as the great Doeg, and in grave danger of suffering the same fate if they continued. Paul writes: “Christ will be of no value to you at all” – meaning they would lose their salvation. To put it in Jewish terms, they were going to “lose their place in the world to come.”

Given the severity of the wrong lishmah, much discussion has been made exploring the nature of lishmah, the rationale behind it and how to cultivate it properly.

Rabbi Chafetz Chayim writes:

“Now it is written in scripture, ‘Happy is the man who fears Hashem, who delights greatly in his commandments (psalms 112:1)…We find that the sages made a precise inference from the term ‘in his commandments’ (Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 19a) explaining that it implies ‘but not for the reward for his commandments.’ Now at first sight this seems puzzling. Surely we know that the reward for keeping the commandments is to enjoy the radiance of the shechinah in Paradise.” – The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, The chafeetz Chayim, forward.

Rabbi Chafetz Chayem addresses the possible confusion that can result when inquiring as to why we should pay no regard for the reward of the commandments, especially since our reward is entrance into “paradise” meaning the Messianic age, and the ultimate joy of residing within the radiance of “Shekinah”, God’s presence. This is no doubt wonderful, and so how can we refrain from rejoicing? How can we ignore the natural inclination to obey God to receive such prospective rewards?

Rabbi Chafetz gives the following proposal:

“Well, I thought to explain that it is a known matter that wherever the Torah says “me’od” (“Very much” or “greatly”), it means to convey “without end or limit” – something that will never terminate. This is the meaning of the words, “who delights greatly in his commandments, but not in the reward for his commandments.” Although we have explained the great value of the reward for the mitzvoth, that it is on a most high and exalted level, and the immense longing of a person to attain this exquisite pleasure – nevertheless, “who delights greatly in his commandments” – here lies one’s infinite, boundless longing and yearning, after he ponders and considers the greatness of a mitzvah itself, how far-reaching its effect is. Then even its reward is to be reckoned as nought and nothing compared with the great value of doing the mitzvah itself. So there is no end or limit to a person’s longing to fulfill a mitzvah.” – The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, The chafeetz Chayim, forward.

After fully recognizing the value inherent within the commandments, all other motivations should fade away, they are “reckoned as nought and nothing” compared to the glory and privilege of the commandments themselves. However, this does not fully explain why we are to view mitzvot this way. Rabbi Chayim makes the assumption that the reader should already know. What is so great about the mitzvot; what is the value behind it all? According to scripture, the ultimate purpose behind proper lishmah is to “cleave” to God:

…you shall diligently keep all of these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him. – Deuteronomy 11:22

You shall walk after Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him. – Deuteronomy 13:5

“…that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast [cleave] to him.” – Deut 30:20

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast [cleave] to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” – Joshua 22:5

The Hebrew verb behind the English translation “cleave” or “hold fast” is pronounced “Dabaq” and is used to imply the general concept of two or more joining as one, such as: sticking, joining, cleaving, attracting, etc. The word is first used in Genesis regarding the imperative of Adam to “cleave” to Eve as his wife. The mitzvot is therefore provided as the medium, the spiritual technology through which God’s proverbial wife (Israel) is able to cleave to God, to experience joining/connecting with God in an intimate way. The abstract noun based on “Dabaq” was invented: “Devekut” referring to the experiential oneness with God resulting from the practice of obedience, intense study and focus on God.The act of cleaving results in a deep “knowing” between the two subjects. While “understanding” connotes an intellectual grasp of something, “knowledge” is quite different. Knowledge implies understanding specifically joined with experience, and it is by the deepest experience of Eve through cleaving, that Adam came to “know” his wife: “and Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived” (Genesis 4:1). By cleaving to God through the mitzvot/commandments, we come to know God. This is what the Apostle John was intimating with this statement in his first epistle:

“By this we can be sure that we have come to know him: if we keep his commandments.” – 1 John 2:3

God, through the prophet Jeremiah poses the following question to the king of Judah reigning at the time:

“‘Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord.” – Jeremiah 22:15.

According to King Solomon, biblically regarded as the wisest man who ever lived, the highest purpose for man is to obey the commandments:

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13

If the commandments were provided as a spiritual technology to precipitate “Devekut” – experiential unity with God, and if the highest goal for man is to obey the commandments, then by inference, we can understand why the sages believed that the deeper insight behind Ecclesiastes 12:13 is that the highest goal for man is devekut:

“Our sages of blessed memory have instructed us that man was created for [the sole purpose of] reveling in the eternal and delighting in the splendor of the divine presence, this being the ultimate joy and the greatest of all pleasures in existence.” – The path of the Just, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,  Chapter 1, page 8.

It seems that in an effort to avoid false doctrine, and to heed the warnings of Paul against “The works of the law” protestant Christians appear to have an estranged relationship with works. If the stakes involved are so high, even to the point of possibly jeopardizing one’s salvation, it’s understandable why Christians would have such a suspicious disposition against wanting to “do” for God. It’s even more sensible why Christians would have such an aversion to the Torah. However, in the light of Jewish wisdom and the devices invented over millennia to best handle these matters, such as “lishmah” and “devekut” we are given the context to fully understand it all, and in the manner the way the Apostles did. As discussed, it’s imperative that any religious act or “work” such as the commandments, should not be performed with the wrong lishmah. The proper lishmah for obedience  is to do so  in love or gratitude for God, and for the sake of cleaving to him. Through a lifetime pursuit of cleaving to God through obedience, we can all hope to achieve Devekut. Devekut, or experiential unity with God is the highest purpose of man.